Applying the concepts of "Fat Head"-did it work?

Cella30

So after watching the movie "Fat Head", I thought I might switch out all my low fat foods to full fat. Cheeses, milks, butter...you name it. But I'm having a little panic attack now. It goes against everything I've known! Has anyone else tried this? What were your results?

megankayden

I would also like to know! I have just heard of this concept.

linemansgirl

As long as you also keep your carbs down, it works fabulously!!! :happy:

Avalonis

Moderation in all things, and you'll be fine.

sarah44254

When given the choice between low fat and 'full fat' or regular, I will always pick the full fat version. I have lost weight just fine.

One exception, I drink skim milk. It reacts better with my stomach than whole milk does.

sarah44254

As long as you also keep your carbs down, it works fabulously!!! happy

This doesn't even matter to me. I have between 170 and 250g carbs a day and haven't seen any negative effects from it. I just aim for my calorie goal and get my activity in. The macro goals (carb/fat/protein) I try to get around my goal area, doesn't always work out but it hasn't hindered me at all.

photorific

I've been doing fine. Lower carbs (I actually differ a bit from that diet in that I don't eat grains), and focus on protein (and healthy fats) for most of my caloric intake. I don't do "diet" versions of anything (except stevia in my coffee v sugar). If I'm eating how I intend, I'm well within my calorie allotment as well...

perrytyra

I don't eat diet versions of food. I just keep to my calorie goal. I have't been doing good with that part lately, but when I keep to my calorie goal, I do well, even though I am eating whole cottage cheese, etc.....

rissaface

What did it say your daily carb intake should be?

sarah44254

The man in the movie kept his at or near 100g of carbs per day.

rissaface

eeesh, mine is about double that at 198. I have to watch it tonight.

bellinachuchina

As long as you also keep your carbs down, it works fabulously!!! :happy:

Yes, you would probably want to watch your carb intake when eating a high fat diet. When I was losing weight rapidly, I ate all fat-free & low-fat foods, on top of keeping my carbs below 120g. Now that I've been maintaining for over a year, I keep my carbs at 130g and below, and enjoy small portions of full-fat cheeses (1oz servings) from time to time, but still eat FAGE 0% Greek yogurt, & drink skim milk.

megankayden

Is anybody doing a Dr.B's type diet? Lot's of meat and veggies? With moderate amounts f fruit and carbs?? My friend did Dr.B's and of course she lost weight but to me an 800 cal diet with the vitamin shots would not be realistic, but I am curious about the high fat/meat and low carb diet..thinking I might like to try this.

Marlinedorcinvil

He is doing a basic low carb diet and it definitely works but it needs to be a lifestyle change not just a fad diet because you will gain the weight back.

TheBraveryLover

Well, it didn't slow down my loss or increase it. Like you're considering, I eat a lot of fat now. Cheese (sooo happy after watching Fat Head I was able to increase my cheese intake again!), red meat, and lean meats with little or no pasta, bunless burgers, etc. are the gist of what I eat since watching the film (outside of veggies, that is). I've still consistently loss as much as I did before then. So yeah, I'm gonna go with fat was not making me fat. Haha.

Watching the carbs have also increased my energy and lessened my bloating. All in all, it's something I can definitely stick with and enjoy doing for the rest of my life.

DianaPowerUp

I have been doing this for about 4-5 mos now (and I just watched the movie this wk), just by doing a primal diet, and eating REAL food, just watching the quantity of it.

It works, better than anything else I've done in the past. I try to keep my carbs about 100 gm/day, and get them from the fruit/veggies/dairy that I eat. Believe me, my whole life I'd been doing that low fat/low cal/whole grain thing, and NEVER got to where I am now, until I totally switched things up. Now it's full fat, lots of protein, few carbs, and I've never looked/felt better.

knittnponder

I've never watched Fat Head but several months ago I did ditch all the low fat/non fat stuff in favor of full fat. The only oils we use are butter, coconut, EVOO and occasionally palm oil. No canola, soy or any other vegetable oils and I make 90% of our food from scratch so those things aren't in our foods either.

You can see from my ticker that things are going fine but what you can't see it that I'm not hungry and I feel really good. We have reduced our carbs (not "low carb", just reduced) and my husband has lost around 30 pounds as well and he never counts a thing. He just eats what I put in his lunch box (which includes eggs with the yolk.)

TateFTW

Most people don't realize that often times low fat=extra sugar. Full fat varieties are usually the most natural, least processed versions as well. Remember that fathead wasn't all about avoiding carbs. Instead it was mainly pointing out that you can eat crap if you want, as long as your calories are tracked and controlled based on your goals. I think fathead would have been even better if he had completely disregarded macros and focussed on just calories, as well as taking it to Sperlock who needs to be taken down a peg or two.

The only problem with higher fat is that fat has more calories in smaller amounts of food than carbs and proteins, so it's tough to fill up and stay within a reasonable amount of calories.

pattyproulx

It works, as other people have said, if you keep your carbs down. (adn stay away from trans fats).

I eat about 55-60% of my calories from fat and am losing weight quickly and am feeling great.

It makes low-carb more sustainable since the food you eat is delicious and keeps you satiated for long periods.

With that said, I've never seen that documentary so not 100% certain what he is advocating.

pattyproulx

eeesh, mine is about double that at 198. I have to watch it tonight.

Compared to the standard diet, that's actually not too bad. The average american eats 300-400 carbs per day.

But yes, 75-100g is generally my sweet-spot (enough that I can still enjoy some fruit, but still lose weight).

TK421NotAtPost

Remember that fathead wasn't all about avoiding carbs. Instead it was mainly pointing out that you can eat crap if you want, as long as your calories are tracked and controlled based on your goals. I think fathead would have been even better if he had completely disregarded macros and focussed on just calories, as well as taking it to Sperlock who needs to be taken down a peg or two.

I've never seen Fathead, but I'm glad to hear that the point on total calories was made.

megankayden

This might sound stupid, but does "full fats" and "primal kind of meats" mean .....regular hamburger as opposed to lean or extra lean?? Or should you still eat lean....I have been reading about this concept quite a bit but need to research more as to WHAT foods exactly make a more natural, primal, high fat diet.

megankayden

LOL I am sure "hamburger" isn't exactly a natural kind of meat choice but just wondering where "full Fat" applies and where it doesn't.

Leanne1795

I've just watched this and I am low carbing all ready and do use full fat everything. It works for and my diabetes so I am very happy!

LaJauna

I loved, loved, loved this documentary! It is so empowering to see that I can eat high fat foods and not have my health be effected in a negative way, as a matter of fact it actually improved my health! I did make me mad that I had been fed a load of whoooey for so long about fats being "evil". I now live on a controlled carb/high fat/ moderate protein way of eating and feel like a million bucks, am never hungry or have out of control cravings and I love to eat!

LilRedRooster

Most of the time, the only reason I pick low-fat or fat-free is because the cholesterol is lower, like with cow's milk when I drink that. Otherwise, I don't worry about full-fat versions, because they aren't the staple of my diet, merely a supplement.

martinah4

I loved, loved, loved this documentary! It is so empowering to see that I can eat high fat foods and not have my health be effected in a negative way, as a matter of fact it actually improved my health! I did make me mad that I had been fed a load of whoooey for so long about fats being "evil". I now live on a controlled carb/high fat/ moderate protein way of eating and feel like a million bucks, am never hungry or have out of control cravings and I love to eat!

Haven't seen Fathead. Is it on Netflix streaming? Anyway, I agree with you...the SAD was making me fat, and we have been lied to for so long about fat. Now, I feel like I have a little secret that the majority of the world doesn't get! Hee hee...

TK421NotAtPost

I just finished watching Fathead. For the past three years, I've been inadvertently eating a diet that I think the fathead creator would more or less approve. I didn't eat fast food everyday, but I don't think that was the point that the creator was trying to make. Instead, I believe he was trying to present evidence against the lipid hypothesis.

In other words, as long as I maintained an active lifestyle, then I ate with the understanding that:

1) naturally occurring saturated fat is not bad for you. trans fats were avoided whenever possible.

2) starchy carbs should be eaten in moderation (preferably on training days)

3) simple sugars should be avoided whenever possible.

4) My diet was generally based on setting a baseline protein level which generally hovered between 30% - 40% and consisted of natural cuts of meat (lean as well as fatty) and protein shakes accompanied with lots and lots of veggies. On a side note, my Muscle Milk protein shakes have a pretty good amount of saturated fats.

What has been the result of my eating style for the past three years? Well, I can say without hesitation that I've been pretty pleased with my blood test results. This is all personal stuff, but heck, I don't mind...

Triglycerides 57
HDL 67
VLDL 11

Also, my bodyweight has always hovered between 155 and 160 for the past three years despite never ever feeling deprived of food. In fact, with my high protein, moderate fat diet, it hasn't always been easy to eat all of my planned calories on a daily basis. I also feel great and have a lot of energy everyday.

I've been an MFP'er for over three years, but my obsession with nutrition began well before that. For the past several years I've been reading up on as many nutritional sites and books as I could and came up with what I thought was the best plan for me. Personally, I don't think it's any coincidence that the diet plan I came up with bears a close resemblance to the precepts in Fathead. I actually came into watching the movie with a lot of skepticism, thinking it would just be a lot of low-carb dogmatic preachings, but I was happy to see that that wasn't the case at all.

HTH

Leanne1795

I am really hoping that more people will watch this documentary and get the message!

HollieDoodles

I will have to check it out

hyenagirl

feel free to ad me as a friend and check out my journal. I loved Fat Head and I eat full fat everything. Most days I usually go over my limits MFP sets for me. I usually go well over my protein too, but as I'm losing weight, being active and don't want to lose muscle mass, many women need to up the fat and protein contents in their diets.

After watching the movie, I dropped 17 lbs in two months just keeping my carbs under 100g and eating full fat everything. Now that I'm lifting weights and doing intense circuit training, my muscles are retaining water to repair themselves and I gained 3-5 lbs back. Never the less, I keep losing inches and my upper arms are showing more muscle, even though the scale really hasn't budge off of 155-153 in two weeks.

After starting a low carb, high fat and protein diet, my acne disappeared! I thought I was going to be 40 with acne still. My face started to lose some wrinkles and I look much younger now. My energy level is up big time, and my joints don't ache, even after doing an hour of squats and lunges. I feel great.